The Lonely Elvenking
by AllonsyMiddleEarth
Summary: Series of bits here and there of Thranduil's life starting just before the Last Alliance and his becoming King. Will includes his wife (Elarinya, meaning Morning Star) and his sons.
1. The Party

Thranduil sighed grumpily, not in one of his better moods. Tonight he was attending one of those parties he despised, thrown by his parents in honor of his father the King, and to lighten the moods of everyone in Greenwood with the darkening news of Sauron and wars that was brought in daily. Really, it was also in part just an excuse for everyone to get more than a little too tipsy, and it was an excuse to invite elf maidens his age to the palace since his parents felt it was high time he found someone to bond with. Thranduil was visiting Greenwood from where he lived in Lindon, as he did a few months out of every year.

Thranduil hated nothing more than these parties, being forced to be polite to so many elf maidens he had no interest in, since many of them were only interested in his title as a Prince. Not to mention how he hated watching his parents' love of wine- not that he wasn't fond of wine himself- but he never had much fun when his parents had enough wine to decide to incessantly talk about him and "show him off" to the guests. Possibly he'd be lucky enough to be allowed to lurk on the edges of the crowds and avoid his parents for long enough, but past experience did not point to this being tonight's likely outcome.

Maybe his stars were aligned tonight; some important elves from other realms had come, and for the beginning of the party Thranduil's parents were spending enough time away from him to let Thranduil to stay in his small group of friends and not socialize with too many guests- and obnoxious elf maidens. They laughed and ate and had a fair amount of wine and a merry enough time before his mother dragged him away, reprimanding him for not acting like the charming Prince he should be, and making him promise to be more social and dance for awhile.

So he had, and now was in a worse mood than ever; there was only so much pointless conversation he could handle. When he was younger, he'd enjoyed the attention he got for his title and looks, but now he just found it tedious and preferred to spend his time with more worthwhile people than the typical high-status fawning elves he'd met of late, and danced with tonight. So now he sat sulking at a table, wishing to become part of the stone walls so never to have to speak to giggly elf maidens caring only for his title again. Tracing patterns in the cracked wood of the table with the tip of his finger, he mulled over how much he hated this night for a good while before he became aware of someone watching him, sitting at a nearby table.  
He looked up, glaring, expecting a giggling maiden trying to get his attention, but the maiden he saw when he looked wasn't what he expected. She wasn't giggling in a fawning way, but she seemed more to genuinely find his anger amusing, which in his mood mostly just irked him more, but also intrigued him. She looked different than the other elves who he was avoiding, and he realized he was staring. It wasn't her beauty, exactly, that caught his eye- although she was beautiful, she had perfect elven features and complexion and long pale golden hair that curved around her shoulders- but it was the air she gave off that really made her beautiful. Her eyes glowed with a light of humor, and intelligence and kindness was clear on her face. Something about her kind expression softened his gaze a bit, and when she raised her eyebrows inviting him to join her, he did.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself tonight, my Prince!" She said, slightly trying to hide her smile as he sat, but not succeeding.

"Oh immensely." Thranduil replied, bitterly sarcastically. "What would I do with my evenings if not waste all my time at these ridiculous events my parents insist on throwing?!"

The maiden laughed. Her laugh was light and ringing, and it even inspired a real smile from Thranduil.

"Well, it does not seem to me like you would hate this party any more or less depending on where in it you are, and I could use some fresh air. Care to join me in a walk?" She asked, straightening and making to rise. "Unless of course you would rather continue to study the cracks in the wood, I'm sure that is fascinating business."

"As tempting as the tables are, I would love to join you." Thranduil said, rising and genuinely being polite for once, which was rare for him at these events.

She introduced herself as Elarinya, and as they walked out on the palace balconies Thranduil found he actually really enjoyed talking to her. After talking about where she was from and whether she had attended many palace parties (she hadn't, this was one of the first, and her parents had only dragged her in the hopes that she would meet him, she told him, apologizing for ending up fulfilling their plan which she had been adamant about not doing,) they got on the topic of good places in the area for riding, and that led to talking about horses and the best ways to train. They talked for hours, about everything from horses to the war to favorite books, and they made riding plans for five day's time.

Eventually she had to leave, and Thranduil spent the short rest of the party in an uncharacteristic joyful mood, though still not missing chances to throw sulky glares his parents' way whenever he got the chance. He had to stop this, however, when Oropher noticed a few too many and threw him a threatening look.  
Oropher then called him over to bid good-night to all their guests and thank them for coming as they were leaving, and after Thranduil hurried off before his parents could interrogate him. It would be soon enough that they would hear from someone else that he had spent so much time talking to Elarinya, and he'd deal with their questions then. Tonight, he just wanted to sleep, and to think about what to do and say when he saw her again in five days time so that everything would be perfect.

~*~

However, that day would never come. Two days after that night, news was brought to Greenwood from other Elven realms. Many forces were marching against Sauron, and they were asking for Oropher's aid. And he had agreed. The King and the Prince leading them, they were to fight. The Wood-Elves were riding to war.

Greenwood felt to have changed overnight. Everyone had heard the news quickly, so Thranduil could only assume that Elarinya knew he was riding out to fight, but he didn't know how to find her and talk to her to say goodbye, or if he should.

The problem was solved for him that evening though; on his way back to the palace after riding out to confer with some scouts. As he was heading back and the sun started to set through the trees he heard his name being called.

"Elarinya!" He called back, turning his horse quickly and cantering towards her. She was riding a silver grey horse, and with Elarinya's pale golden hair the pair of them almost shone in the dimming evening light of the forest as she continued riding towards him. "I wasn't sure how to find you." He said when they met and both slowed their horses to a stop. "And we've been rushing so much to prepare to leave…I am sorry I won't be here for our ride."

She shook her head brushing him off.

"Perhaps when you return." She said, an intensity in her blue eyes on emphasizing the word "when."

"Perhaps." Thranduil said with a smile. He appreciated her subtle confidence in his returning. He was young; he had never expected to be riding to war so soon, and he had to admit that he was more than a little apprehensive. "I would like that."

"As would I." Elarinya said softly.

They watched each other for a moment, neither wanting to break gaze with the other.

"I should get home before the sun sets." Elarinya said finally. "I don't know how my father will react if he finds out I am off in the forest after dark with strange men. Even a prince." Her eyes twinkled. Then she more seriously added, "We will all miss you. And I just wanted to say good-bye and to wish you luck."

"Thank you." Thranduil bowed his head slightly. "Until we meet again."

"Until we meet again." She echoed, bowing, then turning and riding away.

Thranduil watched until after she was out of sight before turning around slowly then galloping back to the palace.

When the armies rode out the next morning, hers was the face Thranduil saw in his mind's eye as he rode a few paces behind his father and away from home. Away from the palace and the trees he called home, away from his mother, away from those he had known since birth, and away from her.


	2. A New King

The Last Alliance was over. Sauron defeated. Defeated, although Thranduil would not say vanquished, because he was wise enough now to know better than to hope for that. In a cruel turn of events, or maybe a few cruel turns of events, Thranduil was to lead the small remainder of his people back home to Greenwood. As king. His father was dead. He had heard news that his mother too was fading, succumbing to grief. Greenwood was much less than it was, due to the amount of darkness unleashed on the world by Sauron in this war.

"My lord?" Thranduil shook his head slightly and focused on the present, realizing an advisor had his head inside Thranduil's tent and had been trying to get his attention. He stood and straightened in attempt to look more impressive, kinglike. "Yes?"

"It is a little after noon, the horses are beginning to be prepared and the camps are being packed up, so we should be ready to head out at first light tomorrow."

"Thank you." Thranduil said almost shortly, turning away again. Returning home meant facing his parents' deaths and figuring out how to rebuild his broken kingdom, and he knew how hard that would be.

He decided to walk around some to clear his mind, but at first the sight before him made little improvement. Elves around him in the yellow dust of the lands here were packing up what meager supplies they still had, rough tents in need of repair were being taken down, and few looked better than miserable. The army was less than a third of what it had been; no one had escaped losing close friends and kin. Elves walked with grief in their steps, and nearby healers and assistants were tending the wounded, preparing for the journey. There, Thranduil saw a familiar elf.

"Elarinya?" Thranduil called, striding forward, his pulse quickening in excitement, an emotion he had not felt in so long.

She turned and her eyes brightened through her weary face. "Thranduil!" She smiled. "Er, I mean…My Lord." She bowed, but Thranduil waved off formalities.

"It is good to see you! I did not know you were here?" She looked different here than when they had met, older and more worn. Her long hair was tied back securely and her eyes were thin. There was now a somberness to them, but some of that old light in her still showed through, especially when she looked at him.

"I volunteered to come help in healing a few years ago, but I had not come this far south until the war was over."

Thranduil nodded, unable to tear his eyes away from her face, the face he had thought of from time to time during the quieter or darker moments of the past years of war.

"I am glad to see that you are all right, but I know you must wish much had turned out differently." She said, her eyes inquiring his.

"As do we all." Thranduil said, looking off in the distance before returning to her face. He smiled at her. "But it is good to see that some good things survived the war, and all can not be lost."  
"I fully agree." She returned the smile, and then glanced back as an injured elf warrior went by, grunting in pain and with a poorly dressed wound.

"I should get back to work." She grimaced. "But I will see you around, yes?"

"I will make sure of it." Thranduil said. Now he bowed slightly to her, and she laughed a little, and he turned away and headed back to his tent.

After dinner was had and final discussions of traveling plans were through with, Thranduil craved getting out again, and walked to the edge of a nearby cliff in the setting sun. He sat against the rocks looking over the mountains toward home, and felt his emotions at the events of the war wash over him now that he was alone. Thranduil felt that he had aged much during the war since the Prince he had been before. He had been skilled with a sword and cared deeply for things that were important to him, but he had also been immature in many ways then. And he still was, how was he to be ready to rule a kingdom? Greenwood needed him. His people needed him, they needed a king to look to so they could begin rebuilding what was lost and learn to be merry again.

He just couldn't shake the fear that he was not what his people needed, that they needed Oropher, and he was not Oropher.

"I will NOT let my kingdom down." Thranduil said fiercely.

"No, you will not." A soft voice answered behind him.

Thranduil looked around in surprise at Elarinya.

"May I sit?" She asked, climbing up to stand beside him. He moved aside to give her room, and she sat next to him, facing out over the valleys below.

"You feel you are not good enough to be King." She started, and he nodded, not looking at her. "You are, though. You always have been. Your time now may have come too soon, but you have prepared to be King your whole life, and knowing what little I know of you, you will be a great King." She said solidly.

"How can you know, though?" He asked, trying not to be unkind, but he was upset, and he was being honest. "You hardly know me. Since we met you have been very important to me, but still, we hardly got a chance to get to know each other. And I can't…my people need and deserve someone to look up to, someone strong and capable of rebuilding now, and I am not that."

"You don't have to be." Elarinya said softly. "You are hope to our people, just by surviving this war. We lost many men, but all is not lost. We still have a king. A good king. We will all continue, and one day be merry again."

Her words started to make him feel a little better.

"I still can not do this." He said, trying to avoid his voice breaking. "I can't do it without my mother or father; I can not succeed alone." He stared into her eyes, struck even through his current thoughts at how beautiful they were. The color was an intense blue, common for Sindarin elves, but flecked with bright green and the effect her intense gaze had on him was almost taking his breath away.

"Then let me help you." Elarinya said warmly, gently reaching over and taking Thranduil's hand in hers. He looked at her with slight surprise, but then quickly turned his hand over and interlaced his fingers with hers. Thranduil smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Elarinya smiled in return and leaned against him, and together they sat in silence and watched the sun start to sink beneath the Mountains in the distance.


	3. Homecoming

When the warriors rode out, Thranduil called for Elarinya to ride up front by his side- if she wished- not caring if anyone thought it strange. They talked about the war events at first, and he filled her in about the details of the battles she had been far away from.

"But otherwise, you surely know all about my story." He finished. "Will you tell me yours?"

Elarinya looked straight ahead for some time before beginning. "My family went to stay near the southern boarders of Greenwood with my mother's cousin. We thought it would be safer there than anywhere else we could go. But we were attacked and there was a battle. Sauron's forces nearly destroyed the entire area." She paused, her voice low and quiet. "Both my parents were killed that night."

Thranduil glanced over at her quickly, surprised and empathetic. "I am so sorry." He told her, his voice soft. He felt terrible now for just letting her comfort him the night before, when he hadn't even asked about her own problems. Surely he should have realized there would be some, she was a high born elf now working as a war nurse, it was unlikely she made that decision for trivial reasons.

"So, then I decided to do whatever I could in the war. I saw few other options, and if nowhere was safe, I wanted to be doing everything I could to help."

Thranduil looked at her with respect, knowing how hard it must have been for her to lose her family like that. "That was a brave decision." He said.

"No more brave than the decisions we all have been making throughout this war." Elarinya said, equally softly. "I miss them, as I'm sure you do your parents…"

Thranduil didn't know what to say as she trailed off, not wanting to talk more about it in front of the war generals and his advisors who were riding close to them, but not sure it was a good time to change the subject either. His thoughts turned to the same hopelessness that had plagued him since his father's death, thinking of all everyone had lost, not just him. He could feel that hopelessness emanating off the warriors around and behind him too; heading away from a devastating war was hard, but they all knew they would be returning to find more devastation at home as well.

"We should sing." Elarinya said suddenly.

Thranduil looked at her in surprise.

"You have songs to sing riding into battle, do you not? To keep spirits up? Maybe it would be helpful to sing songs of home, to remind us what this war was fought for and to give us hope of what we may rebuild once we return."

Thranduil turned his blue eyes to hers and smiled. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Will you begin?"

Elarinya thought for a moment and began an old song of Greenwood that they would all know, telling of trees under sun growing tall and lush in the early days of the Elves coming, before any evil had touched their home or their history, of Greenwood the Great.

Thranduil rode in silence just listening at first to her clear and beautiful voice as other elves behind them started to join in. All elves had good singing voices, and all Wood-Elves loved singing and telling tales, so it was not an odd thing that Elarinya had a beautiful voice. But to Thranduil it was especially beautiful, and he listened mesmerized for a good while to her voice before joining in. Beside her he felt that his own voice was rough and his words were clumsy. He had never felt he had a particularly great singing voice, and it had now been long since he had used it. Elarinya beamed a genuine smile full of light at him the moment he joined in, though, and he couldn't help but feel hope begin toflow through him at her infectious spirit and at the memories of green trees and merrier times that the music washed over him.

The forests were becoming more familiar, and everyone felt a mix of emotions. Finally, they were only about a day's ride from Greenwood. Thranduil was visibly more nervous, as was everyone else.  
At their last stop for a meal before they would arrive Thranduil was making final arrangements with Gondien, who had always been the King's closest advisor, and was also a respected war general.  
"We shall make sure everyone who has nowhere to go gets help, until everyone gets back on their feet. Especially those who helped in the war, they may take refuge in the palace until further arrangements can be made." Thranduil said, his eyes on Elarinya a ways away.

They rode into the palace grounds around sunset to cheers and praise of a large crowd. Thranduil nodded his head politely again and again as they welcomed their new King, though he felt a lump rising in his throat of grief for the old one. The crowds were searching the soldiers' ranks; too, Thranduil knew everyone was searching for loved ones and kin. He felt his heart sink, knowing that two thirds of the army was gone, that a good number of people here would not be able to welcome home those that should be here. He could feel the franticness of the crowd; or maybe he just imagined it, but there was certainly sorrow for those who knew their loved ones were not coming home.

Finally they reached the palace entrance where the court and other elves were waiting. They all knelt to their new King when he dismounted.

"King Thranduil." Said high member of the court, Lithônion, who was in charge in the absence of the King or the Queen, coming towards him when the elves had stood. "Welcome home."

Thranduil nodded his head, the homecoming tinged with so much sorrow it felt little like a welcome.

"My mother…?" Thranduil asked, unable to ask of anything else first.

Lithônion's eyes saddened with grief. "The Queen passed three days ago, fading to grief. I am sorry."

Thranduil closed his eyes and reined in his emotions. Now was not his time to grieve. When that time would come, he knew not.

It was decided that the next day would be the commemoration for the old King and fallen warriors, and the crowning ceremony of the new King, Tonight other business affairs before would be taken care of. There was much for Thranduil to do; he had a lot to catch up on in the affairs of Greenwood during his absence, and plenty to see to about the rebuilding. With a small farewell smile at Elarinya, Thranduil was ushered inside by his advisors. They discussed matters over dinner and after, until Thranduil's head was spinning with exhaustion and far too many figures and politics for a new king to possibly remember. Finally the most important issues had been attended to or discussed, and Thranduil was able to get some rest. He ached for time to go walk amongst the trees alone, but now was not the time. So he headed to the King's chambers, where all his things were, taken care of for him. He walked through them slowly; everything seemed so familiar and yet so foreign, like they had belonged to a different elf. Though, he supposed, in a way they had.

The next morning dawned all too bright. Thranduil dressed in robes that had been made for this occasion, silver with intricate light green embroidery all over. Breakfast was too fast, ceremony preparations too fast, and the ceremonies themselves too long. After was time for a combination of a feast in his honor and still too many more matters that needed the King's attention. Still, it was good to be home in familiar surroundings, with his own people, and with those who had known him and his father for centuries. Thranduil supposed he was doing all right in his first day as King, but he could not shake his "_What would Oropher do?" _thoughts at every situation. He craved solitude among the forests, more than anything else.

Eventually that night, he finally got it. He walked through the trees singing softly and listening to the songs of the nature around him. Finally, he began to feel home. The trees seemed to be welcoming him, and free of the grief he felt from everyone else, the Elvenking was finally at peace. The moonlight wafted down softly through the leaves, just enough light to see by. Silver and green, like his robes today had been. He reached a place in the forest fare enough away to feel secluded, but not too far from the palace. Thranduil sat beneath a large tree and deeply inhaled the damp forest air, so wonderfully different from the acrid dust of Mordor. He sat in silence now, just listening, his thoughts running far away. Finally, he allowed himself time to grieve for his mother. He did not blame her for succumbing to grief at her father's death, most Elves did if they suffered the loss of a mate, but he wished she could have stayed a little longer, to help him now. At the very least he wished she could have stayed long enough to say good-bye to her only son. He sighed. It was no use wishing, his parents were together now in the Halls of Mandos. His thoughts turned to Elarinya. He was falling in love with her, he knew, and she might feel the same. She would make a great Queen; he already trusted her advice as much as his most senior advisors and she had helped him so far. She was good for him; her spirit had that unbreakable touch of positivity and hope that he lacked in his own. But his life would be too complicated for a while, and he hoped she would understand that. His first concerns right now needed to be as a King for his Kingdom, and he would not have enough time left over for personal matters for a while.


End file.
